The Inner Conflict of Tradition: Essays in Indian Ritual, Kingship, and Society c14.7

c14.7

The ambiguity of the king-brahmin relationship is expressed in the words of the *Bṛhad-Āraṇyaka-Upaniṣad* 1. 4. 11, where the kṣatra is said to have emanated from the brahman as the latter's foremost form: “Therefore nothing transcends the kṣatra; therefore the brahmin sits below the kṣatriya at the royal consecration (*rājasūya*); he bestows this honor only on the kṣatra. But the brahman is the womb of the kṣatra; therefore, though he attains the highest status, he finally rests on the brahman, his own womb; if he (the kṣatriya) hurts him (the brahmin), he hurts his origin; in the same way as when attacking a superior, he is worsted.” I think this contradictory statement, which alternately makes the king or the brahmin supreme only to deprive each again of his supremacy, sums up the problem of the dual dominium.